8 
(Bulletin of the J(atural History Society. 
Civilization has prevailed in other ages and in various 
countries, yet did not build up for itself a permanent home. 
There have been civilizations which embraced both material 
and intellectual conditions, yet they crumbled away from 
material causes or were overthrown by external forces. 
The Mexicans of to-day are inferior in many respects to 
the people of the time of Montezuma. When the Spaniards 
took possession of Mexico they found conditions of 
civilization — in the public building, in the civil and social 
arrangements — superior to those now in existence. 
The Indian race has retrograded. 
Three and four thousand years ago Egypt contained a 
powerful nation. Her wondrous pyramids are standing 
monuments to her supremacy in architecture; her vast tem- 
ples were the scenes of gorgeous worship; her painted 
writings disclose the histories of famous kings and successive 
dynasties, and yet this high civilization has disappeared, and 
as a nation she grovels among the meanest. 
The Chaldeans were celebrated for their knowledge. 
The Babylonians, Persians, Assyrians, held a prominent 
jdace in the history of the world. From the plains of their 
country or from the lofty towers of their cities they watched 
and noted the movements of the heavens. Their merchants 
gathered up the riches of the world; their warriors pushed 
their dominion over the then known world; their learned 
men filled their libraries with records of their history and 
religion. But now many centuries have lapsed since they as 
peoples have passed away, and huge mounds of brick and 
clay alone mark the solitudes where kings reigned in pomp 
and nations revelled in luxuries. 
Greece was a centre of intellectual forces. She stood as a 
beacon and flashed her philosophy like the light over the 
nations and down the centuries. Yet as a people Greece 
waned before social and foreign evils, and is chiefly known 
by the dead past. 
The Roman Empire was the most extensive and powerful 
in the world; culminated in material wealth; cruelty reigned 
triumphant in her public games; luxury sapped her man- 
